CT Scans Reveal 1,000-Year-Old Mummy Of Chinese Monk Hidden Inside Ancient Buddhist Statue
A CT scan of a
Buddhist statue from the 11th or 12th century has revealed an
extraordinary secret – it houses the mummy of an ancient Chinese
Buddhist monk whose organs have been replaced by ancient Chinese
scrolls.
Scientists knew that there was a mummy
inside the statue, but the CT scan, carried out at the Meander Medical
Centre at the request of the Drents museum in the Netherlands, gave them
their first close-up look at the skeleton inside. That’s when they
discovered the hidden paper scrolls and figured out that the mummy was
the body of Liuquan, an ancient Buddhist master from the Chinese
Meditation School. The discovery comes on the heels of news of another mummified monk in Mongolia, who some believe is simply in an advanced meditative state.
The statue will be on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum until May, 2015.
